


Talk

by Syntax



Series: 50k Challenge Oneshots [11]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Can be read as gen, Dialogue Heavy, Experimental Style, F/M, Fluff without Plot, Grammar Porn, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Post-Canon, Sibling Bonding, it's really only porn if you think sentence structure is as neat as i do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22891849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syntax/pseuds/Syntax
Summary: The Hollow Knight leaned forward to get a better look, squinting at the strain.Beetle?Bretta, Ghost corrected.The pudgy beetle sat outside of her home just as she usually did, listening starstruck to the ramblings of Zote the Mighty.  Ghost didn't understand why.  They didn't understand what would cause one to be so infatuated with Zote, nor did they understand why Bretta didn't seem to want anything to do with them anymore.Ghost had read her book of stories once or twice.  They didn't understand her talk of White Wanderers and Grey Princes.  There was no Grey Royalty in Hallownest.  They would know.  They probably would've killed such royalty during their quest.Bretta talk-Ghost.  See-Ghost.  Zote come, stop.  Why?
Relationships: Bretta/The Knight (Hollow Knight), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & The Knight
Series: 50k Challenge Oneshots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627744
Comments: 24
Kudos: 183





	Talk

**Author's Note:**

> this is inspired by a thing i saw on tumblr joking that the hollow knight probably had people crushing on them in the pale king's court. writing the vessels' dialogue was really fun for me, and i hope it's not _too_ obtuse for y'all to understand. i figure a being that isn't supposed to have a mind would talk in a manner very similar to newspeak.

Ghost was not a very perceptive bug.

Well, no. That was inaccurate to say. They were very perceptive when it came to noticing gaps in walls and weaknesses in the rock face that could be chipped away to reveal secret passageways. They were perceptive when it came to reading an opponent in the middle of battle, anticipating the next move before it came so that they could dodge or parry or counter when the opportunity arrived. They were very perceptive when it came to finding lost items or treasures, or locating things that had been hidden away, or just seeing things that must bugs would hardly ever notice.

Ghost was not perceptive when it came to _feelings_.

Case in point, they sat staring out the window of their home in Dirtmouth, watching the bugs around them interact in ways they didn't understand, all while peppering their taller sibling with questions on what the various moves and motions meant.

**There**. Ghost tapped a minuscule claw against the class, pointing at the figure of Elderbug standing outside. **Flower-Give, flower have hold-always have-always have-not, why?**

The Hollow Knight moved their massive head languidly in the direction of the window. Contrasting their sibling, the larger vessel seemed mostly indifferent to the goings-on of Dirtmouth life, more content to simply rest and lay about around the house. They'd been warming their shell in the ambient sunlight streaming down through the window before Ghost had come along and decided to ask questions.

No matter how much time they had spent outside of the Black Egg Temple, free from being both prison and prisoner, their reserves of energy were not what they used to be. The Hollow Knight was tired. Their siblings usually left them to their rest in respect of that.

**...Flower-look?** They asked, sleepily.

**White-not-pale. Leaf-not. Large** , Ghost responded.

**Delicate?**

**Delicate.**

The Hollow Knight hummed in thought. They glanced upwards through the window at the sky hanging above the houses.

**Grey. Sky-Tears. Strong-plus for Ze'mer-flower. Elderbug have-not, sky-tears break-not.**

Ghost nodded in understanding. So wise was their sibling. They turned their attention back towards the window, looking for something else they could inquire about. They tapped the window again.

**There.**

The Hollow Knight leaned forward to get a better look, squinting at the strain. **Beetle?**

**Bretta** , Ghost corrected.

The pudgy beetle sat outside of her home just as she usually did, listening starstruck to the ramblings of Zote the Mighty. Ghost didn't understand why. They didn't understand what would cause one to be so infatuated with Zote, nor did they understand why Bretta didn't seem to want anything to do with them anymore.

Ghost had read her book of stories once or twice. They didn't understand her talk of White Wanderers and Grey Princes. There was no Grey Royalty in Hallownest. They would know. They probably would've killed such royalty during their quest.

**Bretta talk-Ghost. See-Ghost. Zote come, stop. Why?**

The Hollow Knight shrugged. The smaller vessel tugged sharply on their sibling's cloak to get them to take the question more seriously. The Hollow Knight looked back out the window, squinting once more.

It took them longer to respond this time.

**Bretta** , the Hollow knight asked, **act-past, describe?**

**Describe _you_** , Ghost retorted.

The taller vessel huffed. **Talk-how, see-how. Describe.**

**Oh.**

**Oh** , replied the Hollow Knight, nodding.

Ghost wracked their memories for the information they needed. Bretta's actions had always been strange to the small vessel in ways they couldn't (and still didn't) understand, but those actions suddenly stopping confused them even more. Pulling up the memory they needed was relatively easy considering how glaringly it stood out.

**Talk...plus. Talk-not. Act talk-do, but talk-not. Stop when Ghost-near. Follow. Secret-write.**

The Hollow Knight shot up abruptly. **Write _Ghost?_**

Ghost shook their head. **Write White-Saviour. Ghost-not. Zote come, write Grey-Prince. Why?**

The larger vessel brought a claw to their cracked mask, massaging the spot above their eyes as if they had come to a painful conclusion. Ghost watched them, enraptured. So wise, their sibling. They wondered what the Hollow Knight might say.

**White-Saviour** , the Hollow Knight said eventually. They sounded more tired than usual.

**Describe?** Ghost suggested.

**_Describe._ **

**Lift-Maiden from thorn-acid-dark. Save? Visit-Maiden. Ghost see-not White-Saviour, but visit-Maiden. Grey-Prince come, warn-plus bugs White-Saviour save- _not_. Beast-yes. Grey-Prince stay-Maiden, Ghost see-not-plus.**

The Hollow Knight dragged their claw down their mask. Ghost fidgeted in their place, not really sure what their sibling had realized or how they should proceed.

**Good-not?**

**Maiden-Bretta.** The Hollow Knight responded, sounding very much like they would like to go back to sleep. **Saviour-Ghost, Prince-Zote. Bretta write plus-truths.**

Ghost looked back at their sibling in naked incomprehension.

**Write Savior-Maiden-love. Ghost love-not** , they said, **Ghost beast-not. Write truth-nots.**

**Ghost love-not** , their sibling agreed, **but Bretta Ghost-love. Maybe Zote say truth-nots. Bretta know-not truth-nots. Believe.**

**But _why?_** , Ghost pressed. The idea that Bretta would have feelings for them struck the vessel as patently ridiculous. They weren't physically attractive. They couldn't talk in a manner that normal bugs could hear. They didn't know a lot of things. What was there to have feelings about?

Again, their sibling shrugged. **Bugs sense-make rare. Happen, happened, happens again. Nothing-do. Accept.**

**Accept _not._**

**Suffer.**

Ghost glared at their sibling for a bit before returning to their view out the window. Ugh. No use now. The scenes of everyday Dirtmouth life did nothing to interest them anymore.

**Sibling-weird** , Ghost said eventually.

**Sibling- _wise_** , the Hollow Knight corrected. **Listen. Sibling-tired. Listen-plus. Ghost-leave or Ghost-silence.**

The Hollow knight shooed them away lazily with their remaining claw and nestled themself back into the comfortable position they had been sunning in before the smaller vessel had decided to bother them. Ghost dashed away silently, not wanting to test their sibling's ire. They went to find a new window and plopped themself down in front of it until the events outside would become interesting again.

The small vessel pondered their larger sibling's words. Ghost didn't know anything about love. Not what it looked like nor much of what it entailed. But apparently their sibling did.

There was probably a story there, but Ghost doubted they would be hearing that story any time soon.

They did miss seeing Bretta, though. Strange was their sibling, but wise too. The Hollow Knight lived among bugs longer than Ghost had. They were probably right. If this love was involved, they would likely need their siblings' help to get things back to normal again.

Ghost would speak to their sibling again later, when the Hollow Knight had awoken from their rest. The two vessels could ask Hornet to help them draft a letter when she returned. A good one. Maybe Hornet could even help them understand a bit more of love so they could see why Bretta had wanted it from them so much...

**Author's Note:**

> if you're wondering why it's been so long since i posted something it's because all three of the short fics i started working on since the last fic update have spiraled out of control and i don't know how massive they'll eventually become. at least two of them will not be oneshots.
> 
> i am suffering.


End file.
